Isaiah Likely tries to build on last week’s 12-target effort, Colston Loveland ventures to Green Bay in search of a slump-buster, and Mike Gesicki prepares for one of his now-annual “spot features.”
Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver
Week 5 Tight Ends
| 1 | Brock Bowers | LV | at NE |
| 2 | Trey McBride | ARI | vs. DET |
| 3 | George Kittle | SF | at SEA |
| 4 | Sam LaPorta | DET | at ARI |
| 5 | Tucker Kraft | GB | vs. CHI |
| 6 | Tyler Warren | IND | at PIT |
| 7 | Isaiah Likely | NYG | at WAS |
| 8 | Dalton Kincaid | BUF | at LAR |
| 9 | Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE | at NYJ |
| 10 | Juwan Johnson | NO | vs. MIN |
| 11 | Colston Loveland | CHI | at GB |
| 12 | Mike Gesicki | CIN | at MIA |
| 13 | T.J. Hockenson | MIN | at NO |
| 14 | Tyler Higbee | LAR | vs. BUF |
| 15 | Mark Andrews | BAL | at ATL |
| 16 | Kenyon Sadiq | NYJ | vs. CLE |
| 17 | Hunter Henry | NE | vs. LV |
| 18 | Brenton Strange | JAC | vs. PHI |
| 19 | Oronde Gadsden II | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 20 | Kyle Pitts | ATL | vs. BAL |
| 21 | Jake Ferguson | DAL | vs. TB |
| 22 | Pat Freiermuth | PIT | vs. IND |
| 23 | Michael Mayer | LV | at NE |
| 24 | Dalton Schultz | HOU | at TEN |
| 25 | Chig Okonkwo | WAS | vs. NYG |
| 26 | Darnell Washington | PIT | vs. IND |
| 27 | AJ Barner | SEA | vs. SF |
| 28 | Cade Otton | TB | at DAL |
| 29 | Greg Dulcich | MIA | vs. CIN |
| 30 | Gunnar Helm | TEN | vs. HOU |
| 31 | Evan Engram | DEN | at LAC |
TE Notes: Sam LaPorta’s 22.4 PPR points against the Panthers were his most since his 2023 rookie campaign. It took a sickening amount of Lions passing-game volume, but LaPorta has caught at least five balls three of the past four weeks. … Both Tucker Kraft’s worst performance and best performance this season have been better than Colston Loveland’s worst and best, respectively. But Kraft is very much in the “Loveland zone.” It’s a huge problem for fantasy managers. Maybe a potential Bears shootout will be enough to finally open the floodgates for both. … Which brings us to Loveland. His PPR finishes by week: TEinfinity, TE55, TE26 and TE14. So, uhh, progress? It is indeed, but it’s difficult to see him completing his return to high-end TE1 status before Caleb Williams (hamstring) is back under center. … Tyler Warren has been the biggest casualty of Daniel Jones’ awful start. And yet… he has at least five catches each of the past three weeks. Warren’s ceiling has been nonexistent, but spiked weeks are inevitable with that kind of floor.
Isaiah Likely did the improbable and had a decent fantasy football outing with Jameis Winston under center. 13.6 PPR points. Good, great, awesome. It nevertheless required 12 targets on an afternoon where Winston attempted only 29 passes. That kind of target dominance is amazing for a tight end, but probably not particularly likely to repeat itself in an offense that also features Malik Nabers. The G-Men will also keep working to limit Winston’s volume. Expect Likely to hang around the TE8-12 range. … Dalton Kincaid has had two great games and two clunkers. With DJ Moore (shoulder) growing ever more banged up, it seems like the perfect time to predict a “split the difference” Week 5 for the Bills’ perpetually frustrating seam stretcher. … Mike Gesicki pushes for TE1 status any time his more talented teammates are injured, and a whole lot of them are hurt for Week 5. … T.J. Hockenson will probably never see that many targets again as long as he lives. He will see 8-10 if Justin Jefferson (ankle) remains sidelined. Even if Jefferson plays — and he says he will — Hock will be a perfectly fine TE2.
Tyler Higbee will be the Rams’ No. 3 pass catcher for the foreseeable future. He’s a TE2/second FLEX “base layer” in deeper league lineups. … You just have to forget Kenyon Sadiq’s Week 4 “zero ball’ ever happened. Not even the lowly Jets could “run back” 17:15 time of possession and 15 total pass attempts if they tried. We now have all the data points we need to know Sadiq is a boom/bust TE2 in the classic mold. … The “Oronde Gadsden theorem” — that the Chargers have literally no one else to throw to — finally manifested in Week 4. It remains true for Week 5, but we are done pretending anyone has a particularly high floor or ceiling in his DOA offense. … The Kyle Pitts “situation” is officially a crisis. We have data sets both big and small that say he is not a preferred target of Michael Penix Jr. If you’re looking for cope, it’s that the Falcons won’t be able to keep restricting Penix’s attempts to this degree. Pitts’ ceiling is probably in there somewhere. The floor is just absolute zero.
Week 5 Kickers
| 1 | Brandon Aubrey | DAL | vs. TB |
| 2 | Cam Little | JAC | vs. PHI |
| 3 | Ka’imi Fairbairn | HOU | at TEN |
| 4 | Will Reichard | MIN | at NO |
| 5 | Jake Bates | DET | at ARI |
| 6 | Cairo Santos | CHI | at GB |
| 7 | Jason Myers | SEA | vs. SF |
| 8 | Tyler Bass | BUF | at LAR |
| 9 | Eddy Pineiro | SF | at SEA |
| 10 | Evan McPherson | CIN | at MIA |
| 11 | Chris Boswell | PIT | vs. IND |
| 12 | Daniel Carlson | NO | vs. MIN |
| 13 | Matt Gay | LV | at NE |
| 14 | Andy Borregales | NE | vs. LV |
| 15 | Harrison Mevis | LAR | vs. BUF |
| 16 | Trey Smack | GB | vs. CHI |
| 17 | Tyler Loop | BAL | at ATL |
| 18 | Spencer Shrader | IND | at PIT |
| 19 | Chad Ryland | ARI | vs. DET |
| 20 | Wil Lutz | DEN | at LAC |
| 21 | Nick Folk | ATL | vs. BAL |
| 22 | Andre Szmyt | CLE | at NYJ |
| 23 | Jason Sanders | NYJ | vs. CLE |
| 24 | Jake Elliott | PHI | at JAC |
| 25 | Cameron Dicker | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 26 | Dominic Zvada | NYG | at WAS |
| 27 | Chase McLaughlin | TB | at DAL |
| 28 | Drew Stevens | WAS | vs. NYG |
| 29 | Joey Slye | TEN | vs. HOU |
| 30 | Riley Patterson | MIA | vs. CIN |
Week 5 Defense/Special Teams
| 1 | Cincinnati Bengals | CIN | at MIA |
| 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | PIT | vs. IND |
| 3 | Minnesota Vikings | MIN | at NO |
| 4 | Dallas Cowboys | DAL | vs. TB |
| 5 | Houston Texans | HOU | at TEN |
| 6 | Denver Broncos | DEN | at LAC |
| 7 | Jacksonville Jaguars | JAC | vs. PHI |
| 8 | Washington Commanders | WAS | vs. NYG |
| 9 | New England Patriots | NE | vs. LV |
| 10 | Cleveland Browns | CLE | at NYJ |
| 11 | Atlanta Falcons | ATL | vs. BAL |
| 12 | Seattle Seahawks | SEA | vs. SF |
| 13 | New Orleans Saints | NO | vs. MIN |
| 14 | Chicago Bears | CHI | at GB |
| 15 | Las Vegas Raiders | LV | at NE |
| 16 | New York Jets | NYJ | vs. CLE |
| 17 | New York Giants | NYG | at WAS |
| 18 | Indianapolis Colts | IND | at PIT |
| 19 | Los Angeles Rams | LAR | vs. BUF |
| 20 | Philadelphia Eagles | PHI | at JAC |
| 21 | Baltimore Ravens | BAL | at ATL |
| 22 | San Francisco 49ers | SF | at SEA |
| 23 | Los Angeles Chargers | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 24 | Buffalo Bills | BUF | at LAR |
| 25 | Green Bay Packers | GB | vs. CHI |
| 26 | Tennessee Titans | TEN | vs. HOU |
| 27 | Detroit Lions | DET | at ARI |
| 28 | Miami Dolphins | MIA | vs. CIN |
| 29 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | TB | at DAL |
| 30 | Arizona Cardinals | ARI | vs. DET |
